People who "take illicit drugs on the weekend" have been told to take responsibility in the wake of Olivia Pratt-Korbel's murder.
Senior Merseyside Police officers said "if there wasn't the demand, there wouldn't be the supply" amid concerns about the control organised crime groups (OCGs) have on communities. Deputy Chief Constable Chris Green told the ECHO how OCGs start controlling communities with "a criminal commodity" which is usually class A drugs.
Nine-year-old Olivia was shot dead by drug dealer Thomas Cashman in her home on Kingsheath Avenue, Dovecot in August last year. Cashman had been chasing convicted criminal Joseph Nee when a bullet indiscriminately fired went through Olivia's front door, hit her mum Cheryl Korbel in the wrist before hitting the schoolgirl.
READ MORE: Dad 'treated like criminal' as armed police search home for CCTV of shooting
Cowardly Cashman refused to appear in the dock to hear his 42-year sentence. The ECHO reported Cashman operated at a higher level than an average street level dealer, with many believing he was more of an "enforcer" than simply a man who sold drugs.
According to evidence in court, Cashman earned up to £260,000 per year selling kilos of cannabis to a "few friends" in the local area. But an ECHO source claimed to have bought cocaine from Cashman personally around eight times, and from his associates on other occasions.
DCC Green told the ECHO: "A big chunk of the issues start around the control of an area in relation to a criminal commodity and a lot of the time that is class A drugs. That manifests itself in the street.
"Where do those drugs come from? They are produced in other countries and there is a global chain that brings that commodity in and that system has a lot of people in the chain. It's a global economy fuelled by individuals who make a choice that they want to take illicit drugs on the weekend, or if people have severe addictions and can't see a way out.
"There is a strong message here if those individuals are partying in the clubs at the weekend and think they're not doing harm by having a line of cocaine, actually there is a direct link back through that chain. Everyone in the chain has a responsibility - that's the stark reality. If there wasn't the demand, there wouldn't be the supply."
Olivia's death was in the same seven day period as Sam Rimmer, who was gunned down on Lavrock Bank, Dingle, and council worker Ashley Dale, who was killed in the back garden of her Old Swan home just days later. Nan Jackie Rutter was shot in October in her Moreton home, while Elle Edwards was shot dead outside the Lighthouse in Wallasey while celebrating Christmas Eve with her friends.
The ECHO has revealed Mr Rimmer, Ms Dale and Ms Edwards were all shot by criminals using Skorpion machine pistols. The gun, described as "battlefield weaponry", is capable of discharging 850 rounds in a minute.
DCC Green added the landscape of organised crime has "many layers to it", with people taking controlling influences exploiting others to do the work on the street. Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Mark Kameen called those involved in OCG operations "chaotic individuals".
He told the ECHO: "Some of them will be living hand to mouth with their criminal enterprise. Others will be more structured and have a hierarchy just like other business enterprises. You'll see people pass through that hierarchy and move up as time and circumstances pass.
"It's a very fluid hierarchy really. They will usually have other people carrying out the legwork, but we have seen that some high level criminals are more than prepared to exact revenge themselves."
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